Portable mobile unit

ABSTRACT

A portable mobile unit for alerting on incoming of a signal by a ringing sound, comprises: a ringing sound generator for generating the ringing sound in a plurality of patterns; and a controller for controlling operations of the portable mobile unit, wherein the controller select one pattern from the a plurality of patterns based on conditions which are set up in advance, when the signal comes in, so as to control the ringing sound generator to generate the ringing sound for alerting a user of the incoming call, thereby providing the portable mobile unit being superior in the usability, with which various conditions can be grasped by means of change in the ringing sound when the telephone call comes in, while achieving the discrimination of the ringing sound for alerting of the incoming call.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a portable mobile unit for alerting auser (or subscriber) of incoming of a signal by means of ringing, and inparticular to a portable mobile unit being suitable for alerting of thecondition when a phone call is coming in, through such the ringingsound.

2. Prior Art

With conventional cellular phones, it is common to generate the ringingsound for alerting of incoming phone calls, from various tone data whichare obtained by coding the tone signals digitally. The users of thecellular phone can easily recognize the incoming call (i.e., arrival ofthe telephone call) to her/his own cellular phone by the ringing sound.Recently, users of such cellular phones are increasing in number veryrapidly, which brings about cases that people having their own cellularphones happen to be within the same place or area very often. thisresults in confusion of the incoming call with that to others, and thenthere occurs a demand or a necessity for discriminating ordifferentiating the ringing sound of each the cellular phone fromothers. For example, a melody generator, which is capable of producingdifferent melodies according to a choice of the user, is widelyprevailed and getting popular among cellular phone users to discriminateher/his cellular phone from others'. with which each user can produceher/his own melody, thereby obtaining the discrimination thereof fromothers. Further, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 10-4442(1998), there is already known an apparatus having a function ofrenewing the melody by means of download thereof, and also, as shown inJapanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 08-251258 (1996), there is alreadyknown an apparatus having a means for producing its own original soundfor alerting of the incoming call, by taking in sounds from an externalmicrophone in advance. Conventionally, for discriminating the ringingsound, a beep sound with its frequency range simply expanded or with itstempo made variable is used so as to enable the melody to sound morenatural than that of a previous type using a beep sound which soundsrather mechanical. In addition, an apparatus utilizing a FM soundsource, which can play tones of musical instruments by synthesizing thesounds from a sound database is manufactured or put on a marketrecently. However, this apparatus is designed to synthesize not vocalsounds but particular musical instrumental sounds. Also, a PCM soundsource enables to produce the vocal sounds or sound effects (such as,mimic sounds), which can increase the number of the alerting soundsinfinitely. However, it brings about a demerit of requiring datacapacity too much, particularly, for the cellular phone, which isdemanded to be light-weighted and small-sized.

Also, alerting used in another purpose, such as distinguishing callersby changing the ringing sound or by changing a light-emission patterninstead, is shown in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 09-312684 (1997).This improves utility value thereof, because the user can know who iscalling (i.e., a caller) only by hearing the ringing sound.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a portable mobile unitwith improved usability, capable of discriminating the ringing sound foralerting of the incoming call sufficiently or enabling the user to graspvarious conditions by changing the ringing sound when the telephone callcomes in.

According to the present invention, for accomplishing theabove-mentioned object, there is provided a portable mobile unit foralerting the user on incoming of a signal by a ringing sound,comprising: a ringing sound generator having a plurality of soundsources therewith; and a controller for controlling operations of theportable mobile unit, wherein the controller controls the ringing soundgenerator, when the signal comes in, so that it generates the ringingsound with using at least one of the a plurality of sound sources, uponbasis of a condition which is set up in advance.

According to a preferable embodiment of the present invention, theringing sound generator comprises: a memory for storing a plurality ofsound data which are generated with different generation methods,respectively; a plurality of reproducer for reproducing the plurality ofsound data stored in accordance with the respective generation methods;and a reproduction timing memory for performing selection of the sounddata to be reproduced among the plurality of sound data and for storingreproduction timings to form the patterns for the respective sound dataselected, wherein the controller controls the reproduction timing means,so as to reproduce the sound data selected in accordance with thereproduction timings, respectively.

Further, according to other preferable embodiment of the presentinvention, the plurality of sound data contain therein a sound data of awaveform coding method, in which quantization width is set up dependingupon a level of amplitude or power, and a sound data of an analyticcomposition coding method, in which the signal is modeled, so as to beencoded into. With those means mentioned above, while using that whichcomposes a main phrase from the sound data base, such as the FM soundsource, the human voices or the like producing the sound effects of thePCM sound source can be used, additionally. Thereby, it is possible toobtain an infinite number of variations, as well as to bring thecapacity to be small.

Also, the condition which is set up in advance, includes: when thetelephone number of a caller is coincident with the registered telephonenumber; when a portion of the telephone number (for example, the areacode, etc.) of the caller is coincident with a portion of the registeredtelephone number (for example, the area code, etc.); when a day ofincoming of the signal is contained within a period which is setup inadvance; when the number of times of the incoming calls in absence iscontained within a range of number of times which is set up in advance;when the remaining battery capacity is contained within a range ofcapacity which is set up in advance, when the signal comes in; when anenvironmental sound of the portable mobile unit is contained within acondition of sound which is set up in advance, when the signal comes in;when a sound volume level in an environment of the portable mobile unitis contained within a range of sound volume level which is set up inadvance, when the signal comes in; and when it is detected that theportable mobile unit is held in a hand of a user, by means of at leasteither one of a heat sensor and a pressure sensor, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main portion of a sound data reproductionportion in a portable mobile unit, according to a first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a table of showing a relationship between sound data numberand reproduction timing thereof, respectively, in the portable mobileunit according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of showing function blocks for performingselection of the pattern number based on a telephone number of a caller,in the portable mobile unit according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a table of showing a relationship between the telephone numberof the caller and the pattern number, in the portable mobile unitaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of showing function blocks for performingselection of the pattern number based on a time of the incoming call tothe portable mobile unit, according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a table of showing a relationship between the time of theincoming call and the pattern number, in the portable mobile unitaccording to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of showing function blocks for performingselection of the pattern number based on the number of times of thetelephone calls from a specific telephone number to the portable mobileunit, according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a table of showing a relationship between the number of timesof the incoming calls from the specific telephone number and the patternnumber, in the portable mobile unit according to the second embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of showing function blocks for performingcontrol on the ringing sound based on a condition of sound in anenvironment of the portable mobile unit, according to a fourthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a table of showing a relationship between a mode and thepattern number, for controlling the ringing sound based on the conditionof sound in the environment of the portable mobile unit, according tothe fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of showing function blocks for performingselection of the pattern number based on remaining power of a battery inthe portable mobile unit, according to a fifth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a table of showing a relationship between the remaining powerof the battery and the pattern, in the portable mobile unit according tothe fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of showing function blocks for performingcontrol on the ringing sound upon the basis a level of noises in theenvironment of the portable mobile unit, according to the fourthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a table of showing a relationship between a mode and thepattern number for controlling the ringing sound upon basis of the levelof noises in the environment of the portable mobile unit, according tothe fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram for showing the structure of the portablemobile unit, according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a front view for showing an outlook of the portable mobileunit, according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 17A, 17B and 17C are views for showing examples of screensdisplayed when setting up the ringing sound on the portable mobile unit,according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and inparticular, FIG. 17A shows “Ringing sound change menu” display, FIG. 17B“Chang upon telephone number of caller” display, and FIG. 17C a patternselection display for the ringing sound, respectively; and

FIG. 18 is a flow chart when the ringing sound thereof is reproduced inthe portable mobile unit, according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will befully explained by referring to the attached drawings, i.e., FIGS. 1 to18. In the embodiments that will be mentioned below, explanation will begiven on an example, wherein the present invention is applied to, inparticular, a cellular phone as one kind of the portable mobile unit.

The structures of the cellular phone, according to a first embodiment ofthe present invention, will be shown in FIG. 15, wherein a referencenumeral 1510 indicates a transmission antenna, 1511 a radio-wave portionfor converting between transmission data and radio-wave signals, 1512 acoding/decoding process unit for converting the transmission data intoaudio signals, 1513 a microphone, 1514 a receiver, 1515 a memory forcommunication, holding programs, data, etc., therein, which arenecessary for the control of operations as the cellular phone, 1516 acommunication controller for controlling the present cellular phone,1517 a display, and 1518 a key-input portion. A reference numeral 1519indicates a ringing sound generator for generating the ringing soundwhen it receives the radio-wave signal, and 1520 a speaker foroutputting the alerting signal that is reproduced in the ringing soundgenerator 1519, audibly. Further, in the explanation given below,“reproduce” means to output a sound data that is stored or a sound datathat is received with the incoming call, or to output an audiblefrequency signal that is converted from an inputted sound data.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of showing details of the communicationcontroller 1516 and the ringing sound generator 1519 shown in the FIG.15. The cellular phone in the present embodiment can reproduce aplurality of sound data simultaneously. According to the presentembodiment, a plurality of memories are provided for storing the sounddata corresponding to a plurality of the sound data methods thereof. Inmore details, there are provided a sound data memory 3 a of the FM soundsource, a sound data memory 3 b of the PCM sound source and a sound datamemory 3 c of the MIDI method, and are also provided a sound datareproduction portion 4 a of the FM sound source, a sound datareproduction portion 4 b of the PCM sound source, and a sound datareproduction portion 4 c of the MIDI method, respectively, as the sounddata reproduction portions for reproducing the sound data correspondingto those methods. Also, the sound data reproduction portion 4 a of theFM sound source, the sound data reproduction portion 4 b of the PCMsound source, and the sound data reproduction portion 4 c of the MIDImethod are connected to the controller 2. The controller 2 selects thesound data to be reproduced from the plurality of the sound data storedin a reproduction timing memory 1, and also determines a reproductiontiming for the sound data selected, thereby making the sound datareproduction portion reproduce the selected sound data at thereproduction timing determined, respectively. Outputs of the respectivesound reproduction portions are connected to a mixer 5, to be mixed withone another therein, and at the end, they are outputted outside, as theringing sound for alerting of the incoming call through a speaker 6(corresponding to the speaker 1520 shown in the FIG. 15), which isconnected to the mixer 5.

As is shown in FIG. 2, in the reproduction timing memory 1 are storedsound data numbers to be reproduced and the respective timings forreproductions thereof, etc. With the sound data numbers, it is assumedthat No. 1 corresponds to the sound data of the FM sound source, No. 2to the sound data of the PCM sound source, and No. 3 to the sound dataof the MIDI method, respectively. The sound data should not berestricted only to the above, and also the sound data of the MP3 methodcan be used, and it may be given by No. 4 as the sound data No. thereof,in such the case. Hereinafter, every time when the sound data is furtheradded to, the sound data number, such as No. 5 or No. 6, is allotted tothe added sound data. The pattern numbers can be changed depending uponthe telephone number of a person who is speaking to, or depending uponthe number of times of the incoming calls (i.e., when the telephonecalls arrive). Methods and kinds for presetting thereof will beexplained in more details, later. The reproduction timing is controlledso as to be ON or OFF status, so that the sound data will be reproducedat ON status, while no sound data at OFF status.

Next, explanation will be given on the method for presetting the patternnumbers. FIG. 16 is a front view for showing an outlook of the cellularphone, according to the present embodiment. On a front surface (asurface, on which are provided keys, a display, a microphone, a speaker,etc, for operations by a user) of a main body 1601 of the telephoneapparatus, a speaker 1602 as a receiver is provided at one end thereof,and in an area from this to the other end thereof are provided a display1603 and various kinds of keys. The various kinds of keys includetherein an up-key 1604, a down-key 1605, a left-key 1606 and a right-key1607, for shifting a cursor displayed on the display into the up-side,the down-side, the left-hand side and the right-hand side, respectively,a decision-key 1608 for deciding a content that is inputted, a clear-key1609 for deleting or releasing the content that is inputted, and afunction-key 1610 for selecting and executing various functionstherewith. To the up-key 1604, the down-key 1605, the left-key 1606, theright-key 1607 and the decision-key 1608 are also assigned a part ofnumeral number keys for inputting the telephone number and/or time,etc., therewith. At the other end is provided the microphone 1513 as amouthpiece, however it is omitted shown in the figure.

Explanation will be given on a method for changing the ringing sound foralerting of the incoming call, based on the telephone number of thecaller, through operations of the above-mentioned keys. Exemplaryscreens displayed on the display 1603 in this time are shown in FIGS.17A, 17B and 17C. First, when the function-key 1610 and the key that isassigned to selection for a menu screen are pushed down, then it isshifted to the screen for “menu for changing ringing sound” (d1) shownin the FIG. 17A. On the screen is performed the selection, on whichitems the ringing sound should be changed, i.e., the change may be madeupon the telephone number of the person who is speaking to (i.e., thecaller), the time when the phone call comes in, and the number of timesof the absent incoming calls. As the cursor for indicating the item tobe selected, a sign of inequity, such as “>” is displayed at theleft-hand side thereof. Then, by pushing down the up-key 1604 or thedown-key 1605, so as to shift the cursor, an edge (i.e., an acute angleportion at the right-hand side, in this case) of the sign of inequity“>” is aligned to the item to be selected. In case of changing theringing sound for alerting of the incoming call based on the telephonenumber, “1. Telephone number of a caller” is selected, and thedecision-key is pushed down. Then, it is shifted to “screen for changingringing upon telephone number of caller” as shown in the FIG. 17B (d2).On this screen, pushing down the up-key 1604 or the down-key 1605 shiftsthe cursor thereof, so as to select the telephone number to be changedin the ringing sound, and pushing down the decision-key can make theselection of the telephone number of the caller. However, it may be alsopossible to input the telephone number of the caller, directly withusing the numeral keys, in the place of the mentioned above. After theselection of the telephone number is made, the screen is shifted to“pattern selection screen for ringing sound” (d3) shown in the FIG. 17Cwhen the decision-key is pushed down, wherein it is possible to selectthe pattern of the ringing sound for alerting of the incoming call,corresponding to the selected telephone number. The pattern mentionedherein means, as is shown in the FIG. 2, what is reproduced at thepredetermined reproduction timing from the sound data generated by thedifferent sound sources. Herein, pushing down the up-key 1604 or thedown-key 1605 shifts the cursor, thereby selecting the pattern number ather/his desire. With the cellular phone of the present embodiment, theringing sound of that pattern is reproduced from the speaker 1602 everytime when the pattern is selected, thereby enabling confirmation of thepattern. Herein, by selecting “2. Pattern No. 2” as the desired patternand by pushing down the decision-key, it is possible to set up theringing sound for alerting of the incoming call. With the pattern No. 2,as shown in the FIG. 2, the sound data from the FM sound source of thesound data No. 1, the PCM sound source of the sound data No. 2 and theMP3 sound source of the sound data No. 4 are reproduced at the timingsshown in the same figure. When it is desired to turn the screen back tothe previous one, it can be shifted back to the screen (d2) by pushingdown the clear-key 1609 on the screen (d3). In the similar manner, itcan be turned back to the screen (d1) by pushing down the clear-key 1609on the screen (d2).

Next, explanation will be given on the processes up to the reproductionof the sound data, by referring to the FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 18.

Herein, explanation will be given on an example of the method, where thepattern number is selected upon basis of the telephone number of thecaller, thereby to reproduce it.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of showing function blocks, which arenecessary for performing the selection of the pattern numbers upon basisof the telephone number of the caller. Explaining by referring to thecircuit constructions of the cellular phone shown in FIG. 15, a receiver101 for receiving the radio-wave signals corresponds to a receivercircuit portion, which is contained within the radio-wave portion 1511shown in the FIG. 15, and a telephone number detector 102 to thecommunication controller 1516 shown in the FIG. 15, which detects thetelephone number after demodulation of the radio-wave signals, inaccordance with the program stored in the memory 1515 for communication.A portion of the memory area of the memory 1515 for communication shownin the FIG. 15 is assigned as a pattern number memory 103, in which arestored the telephone numbers and the pattern numbers of the ringingsounds for alerting of the incoming calls corresponding thereto, asshown in FIG. 4. In the pattern number memory 103 can be stored thepattern numbers of the ringing sounds for alerting of the incoming callscorresponding to the incoming calls 103 a and 103 b to the telephonenumbers which are preset and stored, or those corresponding to a certainportion of the telephone numbers, such as the incoming calls 103 c and103 d to the area code of the telephone numbers of the callers, therebyenabling extensive variations of services responding to the desires fromthe users. The communication controller 1516 determines the patternnumber, corresponding to the telephone number detected, based on thedata stored in the pattern number memory 103, and thereafter reads outthe reproduction timings corresponding to those pattern numbers based onthe data stored in the reproduction timing memory 1 shown in the FIG. 1,thereafter it shifts to the processes for producing the ringing soundfor alerting of the incoming call.

Hereinafter, explanation will be given in more details, by referring toa flowchart.

In the flowchart shown in FIG. 18, when the telephone call comes in(s1), detection is made on the telephone number of the caller, etc., andthe ringing sound for alerting of the incoming call is selected (s2). Ina case where the ringing sound is set to be changed depending upon thetelephone number of the caller, the receiver 101 receives the radio-wavesignal so as to demodulate it, when the telephone call comes in to thecellular phone, as shown in the FIG. 3, and the demodulated signal issent to the telephone number detector 102, thereby detecting thetelephone number of the caller (the person who is speaking to) from thedata after being demodulated in the telephone number detector 102. Thesignal corresponding to that telephone number is sent to the patternnumber memory 103, and compared to the telephone numbers stored therein,therefore the pattern number being preset to that telephone number isoutputted from the pattern number memory 103. If the telephone number ofthe caller is “012-345-6789”, for example, the ringing sound of thepattern number “1” is reproduced, which is preset to that number as isshown in the FIG. 4, for alerting the user of the incoming call, andthen the sound data No. “1”, the sound data No. “2” and the sound dataNo. “3” are reproduced.

Also, it is possible to change the ringing sound for alerting of theincoming call, depending upon each of the areas where the callers livein, by setting up the pattern numbers for each of the area codes to bestored. For example, when the upper three (3) digits are “045”, theringing sound of the pattern number “3” is reproduced for alerting ofthe incoming call, and then the sound data No. “3” in the FIG. 2 isreproduces.

The controller portion 2 accesses to the reproduction timing memory 1 soas to start a search for the reproduction timings of the respectivesound data (s3). The controller 2 checks the reproduction timing for thesound data No. “1” (of the FM sound source) (s4 a), the reproductiontiming for the sound data No. “2” (of the PCM sound source) (s4 b), andthe reproduction timing for the sound data No. “3” (of the MIDI soundsource) (s4 c), respectively. Herein, in the beginning of alerting bythe ringing sound to the incoming call (i.e., at a time point a in theFIG. 2), since the sound data No. “1” and the sound data No. “3” areturned ON, and then they are shifted to (s5 a) and (s5 c), respectively.Since the sound data No. “2” is turned OFF, it is not processed, and isin a condition of search waiting. Into the sound data reproductionportion 4 a for the FM sound source, having the sound data No. “1”, thesound data 3 a of the FM sound source is read in, so as to be sent tothe mixer (s5 a). In the similar manner, into the sound datareproduction portion 4 c for the MIDI sound source, having the sounddata No. “3”, the sound data 3 c of the MIDI sound source is read in, soas to be sent to the mixer (s5 c). In the mixer 5, the transmitted sounddata are mixed therein and is delivered to the speaker 6. The speaker 6outputs the transmitted sound data in the form of the audible sound foralerting of the incoming call (s6). Thereafter, a decision is made onwhether the search is conducted up to the end or not (s7), and ifdeciding that the search is necessary for the next reproduction timing,the search is conducted on for the next timing (s8), again.

During the reproduction of the sound data No. “1” and the sound data No.“3”, after a minute (for example, at the time point b in the FIG. 2),also the sound data No. “2” is turned to ON at the reproduction timingof the time point b (s4 b). Then, into the sound data reproductionportion 4 b for the PCM sound source, having the sound data No. “2”, thesound data 3 b of the PCM sound source is read in, so as to be sent tothe mixer (s5 b). In the mixer 5, the transmitted three sound data aremixed with one another, and are delivered to the speaker 6. The speaker6 outputs the sound data in the form of the ringing sound for alertingof the incoming call (s6). Thereafter, decision is made on whether thesearch is conducted up to the end or not (s7) and if deciding that thesearch is necessary for the next reproduction timing, the search isconducted on for the next timing (s8), again. In case of deciding thatthe search is completed up to the end, the reproduction of the ringingsound for alerting of the incoming call is finished (s9). Even inprocessing of all of those processes, the reproduction of the data ofringing sound for alerting of the incoming call is completed (s9), whenthe user thereof starts communication by holding the cellular phone inher/his hand.

With taking those steps mentioned above, it is possible to reproduce thesound data, simultaneously, which are stored in accordance with the aplurality of methods. Further, with using such the methods, it ispossible to save the memory by setting up the time for reproductionthereof to be short, in particular, even for the sound data of the PCMsound source, which generally needs a large memory capacity. Also, thereis a possibility that the circuit scale come to be a little bit bigger,however it is possible to reproduce vocal sounds i.e. human voices orthe like by means of that PCM sound source, for example, together with abackground of the tones of musical instruments, such as, a piano and/ora guitar, reproduced by the FM sound source. Using a method of composingthe sounds from the sound database, such as the FM sound source, formain phrases, it is possible to use the human voices and the likeproducing the sound effects (such as, the mimic sounds) of the PCM soundsource, in addition thereto. With this, an infinite or unlimited numberof variations can be obtained when producing the sound for alerting theuser of the incoming call, as well as an effect of small-sizing of thecapacity. As a result of this, the variations of the ringing sound foralerting of the incoming call comes to be abundant, thereby obtainingthe discrimination from the ringing sound of the cellular phone owned byother, with ease.

As an example of the abundance of the variation in the ringing sound foralerting of incoming call, other than those mentioned above, it ispossible to store the names of the owners of the telephone numbers whichare stored in the pattern number memory, as the sound data of the PCMsound source, in advance, so as to reproduce them in the form of humanvoices, thereby obtaining the names of the callers, as the ringing soundfor alerting them of the incoming call. For example, if the caller'sname is “Ieyasu TOKUGAWA” and it is stored as the sound data “IeyasuTOKUGAWA” corresponding thereto, the sound “Ieyasu TOKUGAWA” isreproduced by the human voice when the call comes in from him. This isalso effective even when the caller uses the cellular phone.

In the present embodiment, it is possible to improve the capacity inacknowledging of who is calling to, in particular, by combining thehuman voices by means of the sound data of the PCM sound sources. Whenthe number is increased in the registrations of the callers, it is verydifficult to remember of which ringing sound is assigned to whom. It isin particular true when there are persons having the same family nameamong her/his colleagues and friends. For example, in a case where Mr.SUZUKI, as the colleague in a company and Mr. SUZUKI, as the friend inher/his hometown, both having the same name, are registered in thecellular phone, the music relating to the company (for instance, acommercial song of the company) and the colleague's name “SUZUKI” arereproduced, at the predetermined timing for the colleague Mr. SUZUKI,while the music relating to the hometown (for instance, a folk music ora music subjecting the area of the hometown) and the friend's name“SUZUKI” are reproduced, at the predetermined timing for the friend Mr.SUZUKI. For example, in the pattern 2, assuming that the sound data 1 ismade of the FM sound source, the sound data 2 of the PCM sound sourceand the sound data 3 of the MIDI sound source, with using the sound data1 and 3, the music relating to the company is reproduced, and with usingthe sound data 2, the colleague name Mr. SUZUKI is reproduced, at thereproduction timing b, in the case of the colleague Mr. SUZUKI. While,in the case of the friend Mr. SUZUKI, with using the sound data 1 and 3,the music is reproduced relating to the hometown, and with using thesound data 2, the friend name Mr. SUZUKI is reproduced at thereproduction timing b. With this, in the case where the persons havingthe same family name are registered, it is possible to make adistinction, at first in the relationship between them (i.e., thecolleague of the company or the friend), by means of the sound data 1and 3, and to reproduce the name by means of the sound data 3, as well,therefore the caller can be acknowledged easily, even in the case wherethe number of registration is large and the persons having the same nameare registered therein.

In a case where the caller uses a telephone apparatus which is connectedto the telephones station through a telephone line (including an opticalcable), the areas are stored as the sound data of the PCM sound source,to be reproduced in the form of the human voices, thereby it is possibleto know the location of the telephone call from the person who isspeaking to, when the call comes in. For example, in a case where thearea code of the caller is “045” and the sound data “YOKOHAMA” is storedcorresponding thereto, it is reproduced as “YOKOHAMA” in the form of thehuman voice when the call comes in. For example, in the pattern 2 shownin the FIG. 2, assuming that the sound data 1 is made of the FM soundsource, and the sound data 2 and 3 of the PCM sound source, the sounddata “YOKOHAMA” is stored corresponding to the area code of the callerinto the sound data 2, and the caller, for example Mr. SATO, is storedinto the sound data 3, thereby it is possible for the user to know thatthe telephone call comes in from Mr. SATO in YOKOHAMA, by reproducingthe “YOKOHAMA” and “SATO” together with the reproduction sound of thesound data 1. In this manner, it is possible for the user to understandwho makes the telephone call and/or from where it is made, among thepersons registered in advance, by only hearing the ringing sound foralerting of the incoming call, but without answering the telephone,thereby enabling the user to respond it appropriately.

Next, explanation will be given on other example of the method forselecting the pattern number, as a second embodiment, by referring tothe FIGS. 5 and 6.

With the present embodiment, with selecting the pattern number based onthe time when the call comes in, the change is made in the ringing soundfor alerting of the incoming call. The structures of the presentembodiment are similar to those of the first embodiment, but except forthe control program and the functions of the communication controller1516 and the contents the pattern number table, which is stored in thememory 1515 for communication. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of showingfunction blocks necessary for performing the selection of the patternnumber based on the time when the call comes in. Explaining by referringto the circuit constructions of the cellular phone shown in the FIG. 15,a receiver 201 corresponds to the receiver circuit portion containedwithin the radio-wave portion 1511 shown in the FIG. 15, and both a callarrival time detector 202 and a timer function 204 to the communicationcontroller 1516 shown in the FIG. 15. The timer function 204 operates asthe clock, in accordance with the program stored in the memory 1515 forcommunication, thereby outputting the time from it. The incoming calltime detector 202 detects the time when the radio-wave signal comes in,by means of an output of the timer function 204 in accordance with theprogram stored in the memory 1515 for communication, when it receivesinformation indicative of the incoming call time from the receiver 201.A portion of the memory area of the memory 1515 for communication shownin the FIG. 15 is assigned as a pattern number memory 203, wherein thepattern numbers of the sounds for alerting of the incoming calls arestored, corresponding to the times of the incoming calls, as shown inthe FIG. 6. With the present embodiment, it is possible to store thepattern numbers of the ringing sounds into the pattern number memory203, corresponding to the incoming calls 203 a and 203 b in relationwith time zones which are set up and stored. The communicationcontroller 1516 determines the pattern number corresponding to thedetected time, based on the data stored in the pattern number memory203, and thereafter it reads out the reproduction timings of the sounddata corresponding to that pattern number, based on the data which arestored in the reproduction timing memory 1 shown in the FIG. 1, and thenshifts into the process for producing the ringing sound for alerting ofthe incoming call. In the FIG. 6 is shown the set-up, for example, inwhich the pattern No. “1” 203 a is applied to when the call comes in atime zone from 0:00 AM to 8:00 AM, while the ringing sound of thepattern No. “2” 203 b is reproduced when it comes in from 5:15 PM to9:30 PM. In more details, in a case where the incoming call time is 1:00AM, since it falls within a first setting time, from 0:00 AM to 8:00 AMas shown in the FIG. 6, therefore the ringing sound of the pattern No.“1”, i.e., the sound data No. “1”, the sound data No. “2” and the sounddata No. “3” shown in the FIG. 2 are reproduced. Also, when the callcomes in at 8:00 PM, since it falls within a second setting time, from5:15 PM to 9:30 PM, therefore the ringing sound of the pattern No. “2”,i.e., the sound data No. “1”, the sound data No. “2” and the sound dataNo. “4” shown in the FIG. 2 are reproduced. With this, it is possiblefor the user to grasp the present time roughly, by only hearing theringing sound for altering her/him of the incoming call. As a result ofthis, since she/he can grasp the time roughly, within her/his variousactivities in relation to the time, therefore she/he can take actionhaving sufficient time. Also, the ringing sound for alerting theincoming call can be changed depending upon the time zones, therefore itis possible to bring the ringing sound to be suitable for theenvironments where the user is, for example, by setting up a refreshingringing sound during the time period from the midnight to the earlymorning, while setting a gay ringing sound of a large volume during thetime period when she/he will be in a noisy place, in particular after5:00 PM (after the office time).

Also, with using the timer function 204, it is possible to obtain acalendar function by setting a unit of time to be a day or a month. Withthis, it is possible to make a distinction of a day of the week, orbetween weekdays and holidays, or to make the change thereof dependingupon the months. Further, by setting up the time zone when the callshould come in from a specific person, it is also possible to change thecall ringing sound depending upon the time difference between the timewhen she/he has the telephone call actually.

Next, explanation will be given on a third example of the method forselecting the pattern number, as a third embodiment, by referring toFIGS. 7 and 8.

In the present embodiment, with identifying a specific telephone numberfrom those of the callers, the ringing sound is changed, by performingthe selection on the pattern numbers depending upon the number of timesof the incoming calls in her/his absence from that telephone number. Thestructures of this embodiment are similar to those of the firstembodiment, but except for the control program and the functions of thecommunication controller 1516, and the contents of the pattern numbertable, which is stored in the memory 1515 for communication. FIG. 7 is ablock diagram of showing function blocks, which are necessary forperforming the selection of the pattern number, depending upon thenumber of times of the incoming calls. Explaining by referring to thecircuit constructions of the cellular phone shown in the FIG. 15, areceiver 301 for receiving the radio-wave corresponds to the receivingcircuit portion which is contained within the radio-wave portion 1511shown in the FIG. 15, and a telephone number detector 302 to thecommunication controller 1516 shown in the FIG. 15, wherein thetelephone number is detected, in accordance with the program stored inthe memory 1515 for communication, after demodulation of the radio-wavesignal, and the number of times of the detected incoming calls inabsence is counted up for each of the telephone numbers. Here, “inabsence” means the case where no response is made by a receiver evenwhen the ringing sound for alerting of the incoming call is reproducedfor a time longer than the preset time period, or by the number beinglarger than the preset one, when the call comes in, and it means, inparticular, in the case of the cellular phone, for example, when theuser does not keep it at hand, or when the user turns off the powerswitch thereof while attending at a conference, seeing a movie, ridingon a train, or driving a car, etc., or when the user changes thecellular phone into a manner mode (i.e., vibration mode), etc. A portionof memory area of the memory 1515 for communication shown in the FIG. 15is assigned as a pattern number memory 303 and an incoming call numbermemory 304, wherein the pattern numbers of the ringing sounds foralerting of the incoming are stored, corresponding to the number oftimes of the incoming calls in absence and that of the incoming calls,as shown in FIG. 8. The communication controller 1516 renews the numberof times of the incoming calls from the telephone numbers stored in theincoming call number memory 304, by means of increment thereof, when thecall comes in from the preset telephone number, in absence.

In FIG. 8, depending upon the number of times of the incoming calls tothe specific telephone number that is preset in advance, the pattern No.“1” 303 a is applied to when it comes in first time, but when theincoming call is not accepted, i.e., in case where no response is madeto it, the pattern No. “2” 303 b is applied to if the same telephonenumber is detected. There is shown the setup, in which, without responseto those, further the pattern No. “3” is applied to if the sametelephone number is detected at the third time. In more details, whenthe telephone call comes in at the first time, the ringing sound of thepattern No. “1” 303 a is reproduced for it, i.e., the sound data No.“1”, the sound data No. “2” and the sound data No. “3” shown in the FIG.2 are reproduced. Also, when the telephone call comes in at the secondtime, the ringing sound of the pattern No. “2” 303 b is reproduced forit, i.e., the sound data No. “1”, the sound data No. “2” and the sounddata No. “4” shown in the FIG. 2 are reproduced. And, when the telephonecall comes in at the third time, the ringing sound of the pattern No.“3” 303 c is reproduced for the it, i.e., the sound data No. “3” shownin the FIG. 2 is reproduced. If a response is made upon it afterelapsing a several number of the incoming calls, when the absence isdissolved, the communication controller 1516 sends the pattern numbercorresponding to that number of times to the reproduction timing memory1 shown in the FIG. 1, thereafter, and then shifts into the process forproducing the ringing sound for alerting the incoming call.

In this case, the mode is so set up that it operates only to the presettelephone numbers, for the purpose of protecting the operation of thismode from the retry operations being troublesome, due to annoying andpersistent telephone calls for persuasion, nuisance phone calls, prankcalls such as silent telephone calls, etc., and with this, it is alsopossible to notice emergency and/or importance of the telephone callmade, for example, when a member of the family or the relative is insick.

With using the PCM sound source, it is possible to reproduce wards, suchas “This is a telephone call for second time”, for the incoming call inabsence at the second time from the preset telephone number. In thismanner, with setting up the sound of calling people's attention inrelation to the increasing number of times, the incoming call comes tobe more noticeable, gradually, with the increase of the number of timesthereof, and even if the first call is not noticed, the telephone callis accepted with certainty. Also, the number of the times of theincoming calls can be seen, therefore it is possible to understand theemergency and/or the importance thereof from it, thereby obtaining asuperior usability.

Also, the program may be changed, so that the communication controller1516 counts up the number of the ringing in one time of the incomingcall from the detected telephone number, in the place of the number oftimes of the absent incoming calls, so as to stored it into the incomingcall time memory 304, as well as, to renew it by increment thereof. Inthis case, it is possible to change the ringing sound with a lapse oftime within the one time of the incoming call. For example, the ringingis made by a gentle sound in the beginning thereof, and is changed to anoisy sound when the number of ringing come to be very large, therebyalerting the user of the incoming call, easily.

Next, explanation will be given on a fourth example of the method forselecting the pattern number, as a fourth embodiment, by referring toFIGS. 9, 10, 13 and 14.

With the present embodiment, the mode is set up depending upon thecondition of sounds in an environment where the cellular phone is used,and the selection of the pattern number is conducted according to thatmode, thereby changing the ringing sound for alerting of the incomingcall. In FIGS. 9 and 10, the mode is set up for alerting of the incomingcall in a noisy environment where the telephone apparatus is used, suchas, on the street in common, or for alerting of the incoming call in ascene or place to be silent, such as in a conference, and the change ofthe ringing sound for alerting of the incoming call is conducted byselecting the pattern number depending upon that mode. In FIGS. 13 and14, the mode is set up depending upon a noise level of the environmentof the cellular phone that is accepting the incoming call, and thechange of the ringing sound for alerting of the incoming call isconducted by selecting the pattern number depending upon that mode. Thestructures of this embodiment are similar to those of the firstembodiment, but except for the control program and the function of thecommunication controller 1516, and the contents of the pattern numbertable stored in the memory 1515 for communication. The FIGS. 9 and 13are block diagrams of showing function blocks necessary for performingthe selection of the pattern number based on the sound (noise) conditionof the environment. Since receivers 401 and 601, a ringing soundcontroller 402 and an environment noise detector 602, and the patternnumber memories 403 and 603 have functions similar to each other,respectively, therefore explanation will be given only on therepresentative one shown in the FIG. 9. Explaining by referring to thecircuit constructions of the cellular phone shown in the FIG. 15, thereceiver 401 corresponds to the receiver circuit portion containedwithin the radio-wave portion 1511 shown in the FIG. 15, and the ringingsound controller 402 to the communication controller 1516 shown in theFIG. 15, wherein the mode is set up in accordance with the programstored in the memory 1515 for communication, corresponding to the sound(noise) conditions of the environment of the cellular phone, so as toselect the pattern number upon that mode. The sound (noise) condition ofthe environment is decided based on the frequency of sound (noise)detected by a microphone 1513, a level of the sound pressure thereof, adifference between high and low levels in the sound pressure thereof, acontinuing time of a certain level of the sound pressure thereof, or acontinuing time of sound of a specific frequency range, etc. A portionof the memory area of the memory 1515 for communication shown in theFIG. 15 is assigned as the pattern number memory 403, wherein thepattern numbers of the ringing sounds are stored corresponding to thesound (noise) conditions in the environment of the cellular phone, asshown in the FIG. 6. The relationship between them are also similar tothe receiver 601, the environment noise detector 602 and the patternnumber memory 603.

In the cases of the FIGS. 9 and 10, the ringing sound controller 402decides the level of the sound pressure, the difference between high andlow levels in the sound pressure, the continuing time of a certain levelof the sound pressure thereof, or the continuing time of sound of aspecific frequency range, etc., so as to decide between the case orplace of the noisy environment, such as, on the street in common, andthe case or place to be silent, such as in the conference, etc. Forexample, in the conference, there is the difference between high and lowlevels in the sound pressure, upon the fact of whether someone makes astatement or not, and the sound within a frequency range of a humanvoice is detected continuously. Also, in a case of a library, etc., thesound within the frequency range of the human voice is detectedcontinuously too, however the level of the sound pressure is low, andthe difference between high and low levels in the sound pressure issmall. On the other hand, in the noisy environment, such as on thestreet, the sound pressure level is large, but the difference betweenhigh and low levels in the sound pressure is small, and the sound isdetected continuously in a wide frequency range. The ringing soundcontroller 402 decides the environment of the cellular phone based on,for example, large or small of the sound pressure level, the differencebetween high and low in the sound pressure level, the continuing time ofthe sound within a certain sound pressure level, or the difference ofthe continuing times of the sound within a specific frequency range, soas to determine the mode number, thereby selecting the pattern numbercorresponding to that mode from those which are stored in the patternnumber memory 403. In the pattern number memory 403 are preset thepattern numbers depending upon the setting mode, as shown in the FIG.10. The set-up of the mode may be made by her/himself appropriately, forexample, the mode No. “1” for the case where the environment is noisy,the mode No. “2” for the case where people must be silent, such as inthe library, and the mode No. “3” where the incoming call is taken intothe consideration, such as in an ordinary room. Herein, the pattern Nos.“1”, “2” and “3” are setup depending upon the mode Nos. “1”, “2” and“3”, respectively.

In the cases of the FIGS. 13 and 14, the pattern numbers are set up,simply corresponding to the sound volume level of noises in theenvironment of the cellular phone, to be stored in the pattern numbermemory 603. In those cases, the environment noise detector 602determines the sound volume level of noises in the environment of thecellular phone upon the sound pressure level of the sound detected bythe microphone 1513. In the pattern number memory 603, the patternnumbers are set up corresponding to the environmental noise levels, asshown in the FIG. 14. On the environmental noise level, for example, therange being equal or larger than 60 dB in the sound pressure level isset at the mode No. “1” 603 a, to be felt “very noisy” in theenvironment for a person who makes that set-up, the range from 59 dB to40 dB in the sound pressure level at the mode No. “2” 603 b, to be felt“rather noisy”, and the range being equal or less than 39 dB in thesound pressure level at the mode No. “3” 603 c, to be felt “no noise”.Each of those ranges may be set up freely, depending upon the personalfeeling of the person who makes that set-up.

Thereafter, the communication controller 1516 sends the pattern numberto the reproduction timing memory 1 shown in the FIG. 1, to shift intothe processes for producing the ringing sound for alerting of theincoming call.

Herein, for the pattern number corresponding to the cases of noisyenvironments, a noticeable ringing sound is set up in advance, which canbe distinct from the environmental sound, easily. And the ringing soundin the mode, which should be set up in the silent scene, such as in thelibrary, for alerting of the incoming call, is set to be as silent aspossible, so that it can be noticed only by her/himself. With this, theringing sound is reproduced when the phone call comes in, which is setup in advance by her/himself, for fitting to the condition of theenvironmental sounds (noises).

Also, for the pattern number corresponding to the case that theenvironmental noise level is felt “very noisy”, a high-pitched ringingsound is set up in advance, so that it can be easily noticed. Also, inthe case that the environmental noise level is felt to be “no noise”,such as in the library, the ringing sound for alerting of the incomingcall is set to be as silent as possible, so that it can be noticed onlyby her/himself. With this, the environmental noise is detectedautomatically, when the phone call comes in, and the ringing is made bythe sound that is set up in advance by her/himself.

As a result of this, it is possible to make the ringing for alerting ofthe incoming call by an appropriate sound corresponding to theenvironmental condition, when the phone call comes in. Also, withincreasing the number of the mode settings, it is possible to cope withcomplication in the condition of using the cellular phones by the users.

The present invention should not be restricted only to the aboveembodiments, but it may be a cellular phone having a heat/pressuresensor for detecting that the user holds it in her/his hand, or atemperature sensor, etc., thereby to change the ringing sound foralerting of the incoming call. When the user holds the cellular phone inher/his hand, there is no necessity of rising up a loud ringing soundfor alerting of the incoming call. Then, with mounding the heat sensorfor detecting a human body temperature or the pressure sensor capable ofdetecting the condition of being held in hand, it is automaticallydetected that the cellular phone is held in her/his hand, thereby tocontrol the ringing sound for alerting of the incoming call to be small.Also, by combining the pressure sensor with the temperature sensor, whenthe temperature is detected to be equal or higher than 25° C. while notbeing held in hand, it is decided that the temperature is high, i.e.,being located in a hot place or in a hot season, the ringing sound maybe changed to one that gives a cool feeling, so as to soften or calm theuser's mind. Also, by combining with a photo sensor, it is possible toadd a function of making the ringing sound large when the cellular phonelies inside a bag, while making it silent one when it is taken out fromthe bag to sense the light outside. Also, in recent years, it isinhibited and punished under the law to use the cellular phone in a car.Then, by adding a function of detecting the cellular phone lying insidethe car, so as to automatically decide that the car is in driving, bymeans of an acceleration sensor, it is also possible to automaticallychange the ringing sound for alerting the user of the incoming call tobe small, so that the user cannot notice it, or change it to the mode bythe number of times of the absent incoming calls, according to the thirdembodiment. The above embodiment can be practiced with using an outputof the heat sensor, the pressure sensor, the temperature sensor, thephoto sensor or the acceleration sensor, in the place of the output ofthe microphone 1513 provided as the environmental noise sensor in thefourth embodiment.

Next, explanation will be given on a fifth example of the method forselecting the pattern number, as a fifth embodiment, by referring toFIGS. 11 and 12.

With the present embodiment, the ringing sound for alerting of theincoming call is changed by conducting the selection of the patternnumber depending upon a remaining battery capacity of the cellularphone. The structures of this embodiment are similar to those of thefirst embodiment, but except for the control program and the functionsof the communication controller 1516 and the contents of the patternnumber table stored in the memory 1515 for communication. FIG. 11 is ablock diagram for showing function blocks, which are necessary forconducting the selection of the pattern number depending upon theremaining battery capacity. Explaining with reference to the circuitconstructions of the cellular phone shown in the FIG. 15, a batteryfunction 504 is a portion for supplying electric power to the apparatusor for storing the electric power charged from a charger (not shown inthe figure), a receiver 501 for receiving the radio-wave signalscorresponds to the receiver circuit portion contained within theradio-wave portion 1511 shown in the FIG. 15, and a remaining batterycapacity detector 502 corresponds to the communication controller 1516shown in the FIG. 15, which detects the charged battery capacity atpresent from the battery function 504, upon receipt of an information ofthe incoming call from the receiver 501, in accordance with the programstored in the memory 1515 for communication. A portion of the memoryarea of the memory 1515 for communication shown in the FIG. 15 isassigned as a pattern number memory 503, in which the pattern numbers ofthe ringing sounds are stored corresponding to the remaining batterycapacities, as shown in the FIG. 12. In the pattern number memory 503,the pattern numbers are set up and stored, corresponding to theremaining battery capacities obtained in the remaining battery capacitydetector 502, as shown in the FIG. 12, so that, for example, the patternNo. “1”, 503 a is applied to when the remaining battery capacity isfull, the pattern No. “2” 503 b is applied to when the remainingcapacity is only for two (2) of the memories on the display, and thepattern No. “3” 503 c is applied to when charging is necessary. Afterselecting the pattern number corresponding to the remaining batterycapacity, the communication controller 1516 sends the said patternnumber to the reproduction timing memory 1 shown in the FIG. 1, therebyto shift into the processes for producing the ringing sound for alertingof the incoming call. In this instance, it is also possible to reproducea voice sound, such as “you can use this about ten (10) minutes more” or“you can use this about three (3) minutes more”, corresponding to theremaining capacity of the battery, with using the PCM sound source asthe one of the sound data.

In a case when the telephone call comes in, in this manner, the user cangrasp the remaining battery capacity only by hearing the ringing soundfor alerting of the incoming call. As a result of this, since it ispossible to ascertain the remaining battery capacity before telephoneconversation, the user can make the telephone conversation in short, orcan ask the caller to make a call again after the charging thereof,therefore it is possible to prevent the telephone conversation frombeing unexpectedly interrupted or cut off. (Conventionally, there occursa case where the telephone conversation is interrupted or cut off,unexpectedly, when the battery capacity comes to be empty or rare duringthereof.) Also, it is possible to make the user strongly notice thenecessity of charging the battery of the cellular phone, by setting upthe ringing sound for the necessity of charging, so that the user cannotice it easily.

Further, the ringing sound for alerting of the incoming call can bechanged upon basis of, in the place of the remaining battery capacity,but an electric field of an antenna, remaining memories of address book,an accumulated time of the telephone conversation. With this, the usercan grasp the information relating to the electric field of an antenna,the remaining memories of address book, the accumulated time of thetelephone conversation, additionally, when the telephone call comes in.

Also, it can be considered that the ringing sound of the cellular phonecomes to be consistent with that of other's, accidentally, if theringing sound is changed corresponding to the environmental conditions.For preventing the ringing sound from that of the other's in such thecase, it may be possible to reproduce the name of a user as the sounddata of the PCM sound source. For example, assuming that the name of theuser is Taro HITACHI, it may be reproduced as “HITACHI”, “Taro” or “TaroHITACHI”.

In the embodiment in the above, the ringing sound for alerting of theincoming call can be produced with the relatively small capacity, bymainly using an analytical composition coding method (the FM soundsource), as well as abundance of the sounds of the music instruments.Accompanying with this, using a wave-form coding method (the PCM soundresource method), such as the sound source method of recording directlyfrom the microphone, makes it possible to obtain an effect that theringing sound of the cellular phone owned by her/himself isdiscriminated from that of other's. In this instance, a large datacapacity is necessary for holding the data of the PCM sound source,however there can be obtained an effect that the memory capacity can bereduced by using the data of the PCM sound source in addition thereto.

Also, with changing the ringing sound for alerting of the incoming callupon basis of the telephone number of the caller, it is possible toacknowledge the caller in advance. With this, there can be obtained aneffect that the user can decide to respond to the caller who seems tohave an important matter, or to hold the telephone call that seems to beunnecessary to respond, by only hearing the ringing sound for alertingof the incoming call.

Further, with changing the ringing sound for alerting of the incomingcall upon basis of the present time and/or the remaining batterycapacity, it is possible to obtain an additional information by onlyhearing the ringing sound, i.e., grasping the present time roughly or toknowing the remaining battery capacity. Also, with changing the ringingsound for alerting of the incoming call, upon basis of the call numberfrom a specific person, the ringing sound control mode, or theenvironmental noise level, respectively, it is possible to obtain aneffect that the owner can notice the incoming call easily.

According to the present invention, while achieving sufficientdiscrimination on the ringing sound for alerting of the incoming call,it is possible to obtain the cellular phone, with which the variousconditions can be grasped from the change of the ringing sound when thetelephone call comes in, therefore having a superior usability.

1-15. (canceled)
 16. A portable mobile unit, comprising: a soundgenerator which generates a ringing sound in accordance with pluralityof patterns including a first pattern and a second pattern; a numbermemory which stores a plurality of telephone numbers; a number selectorwhich selects a telephone number from the plurality of telephonenumbers; and a controller being configured to control said soundgenerator and generate a ringing sound of the first pattern if thenumber of incoming calls received from a given telephone number withouthaving been answered is less than a predetermined number, and generate aringing sound of the second pattern if the number of incoming callsreceived from the given telephone number without having been answered isequal to or greater than the predetermined number, wherein the givenphone number is one from the plurality of telephone numbers stored inthe number memory.
 17. A portable mobile unit according to claim 16,further comprising: a counter which counts how many times incoming callsare received from the given telephone number without having beenanswered.
 18. A portable mobile unit according to claim 16, wherein saidsound generator has a plurality of sound sources.
 19. A portable mobileunit according to claim 18, wherein said sound generator generates theringing sound using at least two of said sound sources.
 20. A portablemobile unit, comprising: a sound generator which generates a ringingsound in accordance with plurality of patterns including a first patternand a second pattern; an input portion which inputs a telephone number;and a controller which controls said sound generator so as to generate aringing sound of the first pattern if the number of calls received fromthe inputted telephone number without having been answered is less thana predetermined number, and to generate a ringing sound of the secondpattern if the number of calls received from the inputted telephonenumber without having been answered is equal to or more than thepredetermined number.
 21. A portable mobile unit according to claim 20,further comprising: a counter that is configured to count the number oftimes calls are received from a given telephone number.
 22. A portablemobile unit according to claim 20, wherein said sound generator has aplurality of sound sources.
 23. A portable mobile unit according toclaim 22, wherein said sound generator generates the ringing sound bycombining at least two of said sound sources.
 24. A portable mobileunit, comprising: a sound generator which generates a ringing sound inaccordance with plurality of patterns including a first pattern and asecond pattern; and a controller being configured to control said soundgenerator and generate a ringing sound of the first pattern if thenumber of incoming calls received from a given telephone number withouthaving been answered is less than a predetermined number, and generate aringing sound of the second pattern if the number of incoming callsreceived from the given telephone number without having been answered isequal to or greater than the predetermined number,
 25. A portable mobileunit according to claim 24, further comprising: a counter that isconfigured to count the number of times calls are received from a giventelephone number.
 26. A portable mobile unit according to claim 24,wherein said sound generator has a plurality of sound sources.
 27. Aportable mobile unit according to claim 26, wherein said sound generatorgenerates the ringing sound by combining at least two of said soundsources.